


Watch me fly

by starsandnightskies



Series: Larry at Hogwarts [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Hogwarts, Hogwarts Express, Hufflepuff, M/M, Sorting Ceremony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandnightskies/pseuds/starsandnightskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hogwarts Express turns out to be a good place to make new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watch me fly

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 5sos' Superhero.

**Watch me fly**

“Do you have everything, Harry?” Anne asks her eleven year old son.

Harry nods. “I think so. Luckily we found Diagon Alley, I thought we’d never get in but the barman was so nice!”

“He was”, Anne agrees. Since they were all new to the Wizarding World, Tom the bartender had helped them out in the Leaky Cauldron, the dingy café for wizards. Gemma never got an invitation to go to Hogwarts but on Harry’s eleventh birthday, an owl arrived with a letter tied to its claw.

 _Dear Mr Styles,_ it said. _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._ Harry, at first, thought it was some joke from his friends. But he didn’t know where they would have borrowed the owl and actually made it fly to his house to deliver a letter. But when he showed it to Anne, she nearly burst into tears. Confused, he asked what was wrong and Anne told him their father had been a wizard too, only he had broken his wand into two to marry Anne.

Gemma hadn’t turned out to be a witch but Harry did have magical talents, apparently, and so he found himself packing his trunk with his belongings and new schoolbooks. He had no idea what to expect.

“Haz, why does your train ticket say _Platform nine and three quarters?_ ” Gemma asks, wandering into the room and holding up the ticket with a suspicious look on her face. “Does that even exist?”

“Are you sure it says nine and three quarters and not just nine or ten?”

“Haz, don’t tell me you haven’t looked at the ticket yet.”

“I haven’t”, he says honestly. “I was a bit preoccupied with packing my stuff and reading some of my new schoolbooks.”

“We have to go. The train leaves at eleven and it’s a three hour drive to London. King’s Cross Station, right Gemma?”

Gemma nods and hands Harry his ticket. “Here, I don’t think you’ll be able to get on the train without your ticket. Don’t lose it”, she tells him sternly.

“I won’t. Thanks Gem.” He puts the ticket in his pocket and looks at his sister with a smile. He was relieved to find out his sister wasn’t jealous that he was going to Hogwarts and not her. According to her own words, she liked Holmes Chapel a lot better than London.

“You know, if anyone ever asks, I haven’t said this, but I’ll miss you”, Gemma whispers when Anne is going over Harry’s trunk one last time. They hadn’t bought a pet (either a toad, an owl or a cat) because Harry had no idea how to take care of an animal and he didn’t want to be responsible for its (very possible) death. No toads, cats or owls for Harry.

“I’ll miss you too”, Harry whispers back. “But I’ll see you with Christmas.”

“You better be here with Christmas or I’ll personally come and find you”, Gemma jokes. Suddenly, she rushes forwards and wraps her little brother up in a hug. “Be careful and don’t-”

“Don’t harm anyone, I know”, Harry smiles. “I’ll write you letters”, he promises.

“You better”, she says and she lets go of him. “See you, little brother.”

“See you, Gem”, Harry calls back and Gemma leaves the room. She wasn’t coming to London because she had school today.

“Are you all set?” Anne asks.

Harry nods. “I think so. You checked my trunk twice, Mum. I’ll be fine. And if it turns out I’m missing something, I’ll just ask one of the teachers.”

Anne wraps him up in a hug too. “Be careful, you. Don’t disobey rules, be nice to everyone and make me proud.”

“I will, Mum.”

-

The car ride seemed to last forever (mainly because Harry couldn’t wait to get on the train and start learning about magic) but at last, Anne parks the car at King’s Cross Station.

“Hurry up, Mum”, Harry complains as Anne lifts the trunk out of the back of the car and puts it on a trolley.

“It’s half ten, sweetie. There’s enough time to get on the train”, Anne tells him, but she understands why he’s so restless. Harry takes the trolley from her and starts speed walking to the train station. “Harry dear, you have to go to platforms nine and ten”, she says, steering her son in the direction of the platforms.

“Where do you think the entrance to the platform is?” Harry asks. A sign with ‘nine and three quarters’ was nowhere to be seen.

“Harry sweetie, I’m so sorry but I have to go back because I have work”, Anne says regretfully with a glance at her watch.

“But how will I find the platform?” Harry exclaims.

“I don’t know, sweetie. Maybe ask the man over there, yes? I’m so sorry honey. Have fun, okay? Try not to get on the bad side of your teachers. I love you”, she says.

“Love you too”, he says back. Anne kisses his cheek and ruffles his hair before she’s gone and he’s all alone in a big train station, looking for a platform that possibly doesn’t even exist. What should he do? What would Mum do?

“…Muggles everywhere!” a boy complains, walking past Harry and pushing a trolley with a trunk and an owl on it. Muggles? Harry vaguely remembers Tom the bartender mentioning that non-magic people were called Muggles. Which means this boy has to go to Platform nine and three quarters to get on the train to Hogwarts.

Harry turns around and follows the boy to a wall between platforms nine and ten, where the boy and his family come to a stop.

“Excuse me?” Harry squeaks. The woman (presumably the boy’s mother) turns around, a seven year old girl holding her hand and a five year old girl on her hip. Her belly was enormous, so Harry presumes she’s pregnant.

“Yes, dear?” she says friendly.

“Do you know how to get onto the platform?” he asks politely, adding “ma’am” at the end.

The woman smiles. “Of course, dear. Just follow Louis’ example”, she says, pointing at the boy who complained about the Muggles at King’s Cross earlier.

“I’m starting my third year so I know quite a few things about Hogwarts.” Louis puffs out his chest. “Now, all you have to do is run straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. I’ll go first if you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared”, Harry protest but Louis smiles knowingly. Harry decides he likes Louis. He’s friendly. Louis grabs his trolley tightly and starts running towards the wall. Harry’s scared for a moment, but Louis doesn’t crash into the wall; he somehow disappears in it. He blinks and looks at Louis’ Mum.

“Go on, sweetie. Nothing will happen”, she reassures him. And so Harry finds himself approaching the wall. Just before impact, he closes his eyes but there seems to be no impact so he stops walking. When he opens his eyes, he’s greeted by a fire engine red train and a sign ‘platform nine and three quarters’.

He feels a smile tugging on his lips and his dimples pop up. He drags his trunk into the train and goes looking for an empty compartment.

“Hey, Curly boy!” Harry turns around and he wonders if Louis is talking to him. “Yes, you, Curly.”

When Harry can’t see anyone else with curly hair he slowly approaches the older boy. “Me?”

“Yeah you”, Louis smiles. “Would you like to sit with us? You seem a little lost.”

“I’d like that, thanks”, Harry nods gratefully.

“Well come on then. Give me your trunk. Zayn will put it in the racks.”

Harry drags his trunk with him as he follows Louis to his compartment. “Who is Zayn?” he asks.

“My best friend. He’s nice”, Louis answers and he opens the compartment door.

A boy with tan skin and black hair is reading a magazine but he looks up when the door opens. “Hey Lou, did you find him?”

Louis steps aside and Harry greets the boy shyly. “Hi, I’m Harry.”

“So your name is Harry”, Louis says. “It suits you.”

“I’m Zayn.” Zayn gets up and takes Harry’s trunk from him. He lifts it up like it weighs nothing and puts it in the racks over their heads. “There, all done.”

“Thanks”, Harry says.

“Tell me about yourself”, Louis says excited once they’re all seated. “You’re Muggleborn, right? How did you get your letter? By Muggle mail? And how do these cart things work?” Harry’s eyes widen. That’s a lot of questions at once.

“Lou, calm down. You’re scaring him”, Zayn says calmly, not looking up from his magazine.

Louis lets his head hang. “Sorry, I’m just really curious how Muggles are able to live without magic.”

Harry shrugs. “It’s fine. We’re used to it. And they’re called cars, by the way. We use them for transport.”

“I can’t imagine how to do everything without magic. Of course, we’re not allowed to use magic outside of school until we’re seventeen, but I’ve seen Mum do everything with magic. I don’t think she would’ve been able to take care of us all without it”, Louis says in awe.

Harry laughs. “I think my Mum did fairly well with me and my sister.”

“Does your sister go to Hogwarts too?” Zayn asks.

Harry shakes his head. “No, she’s a hundred percent Muggle. What does Muggleborn mean anyway?”

“It means that no one in your family has any magical talents”, Zayn explains.

“My Dad was a wizard but I haven’t seen him since I was three”, Harry says.

“Then you’re a half blood”, Louis tells him. “Zayn and I are purebloods but since the second Wizarding War, no one really cares about your blood status anymore so no need to worry.”

“Wizarding War?” Harry asks confused.

“You haven’t heard of it?” Louis seems very surprised. “Well…” and he starts telling Harry about some evil guy named Voldemort and a boy named Harry Potter.

-

“Anything from the trolley?” an old lady asks from the doorway.

“Yes!” Louis jumps up and gets a handful of bronze coins from his pocket. According to Zayn, they’re called Knuts. “Two chocolate frogs and a sugar quill please.”

“Zayn, what should I get?” Harry whispers because he’s eleven and new to this entire world.

“Sugar quills are good”, he says, “and if you’re hungry you should get some pumpkin pastries.”

“Chocolate frogs too”, Louis adds. Harry gets a handful of golden coins from his pocket and Louis’ eyes widen.

“That’s a lot of money.”

“Is it?”

“You’ve got ten Galleons in your hand! Of course that’s a lot!”

Harry buys a few sugar quills, a few pumpkin pastries and a few chocolate frogs, all to share with Louis and Zayn because they’ve been nothing but nice so far. He gets three silver coins and a bronze coin back and he still has five golden coins lefts.

When it’s getting dark outside, a boy around the age of fifteen enters their compartment. “Time to put on your robes, we’ll be there soon.”

“Thanks Liam”, Louis says and the boy nods and leaves.

They change in comfortable silence and Harry notices Zayn’s robes are dark blue and Louis’ are dark red.

“Why are your robes coloured? Mine are just plain black”, Harry says.

“That’s because of our Houses”, Louis says and Zayn face palms.

“I can’t believe we forgot to tell him about the Houses.”

“Well, we still have time. There’s four Houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They all have their own colour and you’ll get Sorted into a House by the Sorting Hat.”

“General information: Ravenclaw is blue and for smart people – which means it’s quite obvious why it’s my House – There’s Gryffindor, red and for brave people – ” Louis puffs out his chest and Zayn rolls his eyes. “- Slytherin is green and for evil people and Hufflepuff is yellow and for loyal people. Of course they’re much more characteristics but these are the most known ones. I don’t think you’ll get into Slytherin though, you’re too nice for that.”

“It’s for people like the Malfoys. Scorpius Malfoy’s granddad used to be one of Voldemort’s most loyal followers.”

“Louis, you know Scorpius has got nothing to do with his granddad anymore”, Zayn scolds.

“I know, but I don’t like him either way.”

Zayn shrugs. “I think he’s nice.”

The train is slowing down and it’s now completely dark outside.

“Hagrid’s going to take all first years by boat as usual. We’ll see you in the Great Hall – you’ll love Hogwarts. See you later, Haz.” Harry feels his heart swell a little at the nickname. He may or may not have developed a little crush on Louis during the train ride. The train has come to a stop now.

“Who’s Hagrid?” Harry asks.

“You’ll see.” Louis winks at him and leaves the compartment, followed by Zayn who reassures him everything will be fine. Harry gets out too, doubting whether or not he should take his trunk but he decides not to when he doesn’t see anyone with a trunk on the platform.

“First years this way!” Harry hears a loud voice boom. He figures the massive figure that belongs to the voice must be Hagrid. He walks up to the small group that has formed in front of the massive figure. He notices that Hagrid is quite scary looking but his eyes are friendly.

Hagrid leads all first years to the boats in the lake and tells them to share with three other persons.

Harry gets in a boat with a boy with a big smile and hazel eyes, a girl with bright red hair that seems to be changing colours and a girl with blonde hair and wide eyes. He’s a bit scared to talk to them – what if they think he’s stupid because he knows nothing about magic?

So the small trip to the castle is quiet. The boy next to Harry is looking around in wonder and Harry figures he knows nothing about magic either. One of the girls (whose hair is now light blue) doesn’t seem as star struck as the others. Maybe she comes from a magical family, like Louis and Zayn.

It doesn’t take long to reach the castle and they all pile out and towards the castle. A very stern-looking woman opens the large front doors when Hagrid knocks. “Thanks Hagrid, I’ll take them from here”, she says.

“No problem, ‘Mione.”

“That’s Professor Weasley to you”, she says, but she’s smiling. “Well, children. Welcome to Hogwarts. In a minute, you’ll be Sorted into your Houses. During your time here, your House will be like your family.” She also explains about gaining and losing points for the House cup but Harry isn’t listening anymore. He really wants to get into the same House as Louis because Louis is nice and Harry likes Louis.

She leads them all into what Harry assumes is the Great Hall and he sees Louis sitting at a table and Zayn at another. Louis waves enthusiastically and Harry waves back. The boy with the hazel eyes from the boat is still walking next to him.

“If I call your name, come forwards and I’ll put the Sorting Hat on your head and you’ll be Sorted into your House.”

She starts calling off names and Harry zones out, knowing he’s probably somewhere at the bottom of the list because his last name is Styles. “Irwin, Ashton”, she calls and the boy next to Harry turns bright red and slowly walks forward. He looks very nervous and Harry feels sorry for him. It’s only half a minute before the Sorting Hat calls he belongs in Hufflepuff and after that it seems all too fast.

“Styles, Harry.”

And he walks forward, feeling a little nauseous and he’s sitting down on the stool. The heavy Sorting Hat is placed on his head and a little voice starts mumbling in his ear. “Hm, yes, Styles, huh? Your dad was a smart man but I don’t think you belong in Ravenclaw like him.” It takes Harry a few seconds to realize it’s the Sorting Hat talking. “You seem more like a HUFFLEPUFF.” And Harry realizes he’s been sorted into Hufflepuff and a feeling of disappointment washes over him.

Professor Weasley takes off the Sorting Hat and he joins the other Hufflepuffs with a heavy feeling in his stomach. Louis waves at him from the Gryffindor table and he feels like he’s going to cry.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“’M fine”, he sniffles.

“No, you’re not. Why are you sad?”

“I wanted to be Sorted in Gryffindor because that’s where my friend Louis is.” He feels like a baby, being sad over this but he can’t help it.

“It’ll be fine. I can be your friend too!” And yeah, okay. He’s got to find more friends than just Louis and Zayn, right? “I’m Ashton.”

“I’m Harry.”

-

After the feast, Louis runs over to the Hufflepuff table and taps Harry on the shoulder. “I thought you’d get into Hufflepuff.”

“But now I won’t see you as much”, Harry says.

“Turn that frown upside down! There’s a lot of interaction between the Houses and you can join us in our common room or we’ll come to yours! Zayn and I do it all the time. How are you liking Hogwarts so far?”

“It’s great”, Harry says honestly. “The feast was amazing.”

-

When he lays in bed that night, listening to Ashton’s snores and his dorm mates’ sniffling, he thinks Hogwarts might become his second home. And maybe his crush on Louis isn’t that small anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> So I did a thing.


End file.
